The prior art is replete with patents relating to the formation of a wide range of food products from seed grains and/or other vegetable materials. Two of such prior art patents expressly disclose processes for preparing what are said to be quick-cooking rice products from broken grains of rice--viz., Gorozpe U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,914,005 and 3,071,471. The disclosures in the Gorozpe patents are more fully described in the aforesaid Related Applications and need not be further described herein. Suffice it to say that other than the concept of attempting to form a quick-cooking rice product from broken rice grains, the process steps employed by Gorozpe and the resulting food product bear no similarities to those of the present invention.
Another known prior art patent more fully described in the aforesaid Related Applications is Harrow et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,325,971--a patent which discloses a process for making a reformed rice product from flour which can include wheat flour, potato flour, corn flour, tapioca flour, waxy maize flour, and rice flour; but, it is preferred that at least a major portion of the flour be rice flour.
However, none of the foregoing prior art patents disclose a process in which alginate or other binder material in conjunction with a setting or gelling agent is combined with vegetable meal or flour to impart to such meal or flour a cohesive quality in the production of a powder kernel vegetable product; but, Willock U.S. Pat. No. 3,365,299 does propose the use of a seaweed gum or alginate mucilage coating for rice grains in producing a rice pudding.
Kamada et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,101,683 discloses the use of alginate among other polysaccharides in connection with puffed rice. The process of this patent gelatinizes the rice starch by first puffing rice grains to a high degree. Such puffing and gelatinizing is accomplished by heating the rice grains in a closed container at an elevated temperature under increased pressure and releasing the rice grains into the atmosphere to allow them to puff, or heating the rice grains by means of heated air or by high frequency waves. Thereafter, a thickener is added to the puffed rice grains, which thickener may be polysaccharide, including agar and alginate, or gums including guar gum, or artificially produced thickeners, or microorganically produced thickeners. The thickener is applied to the puffed rice by immersing the puffed rice in an aqueous solution containing the thickener, or by spraying or sprinkling the aqueous solution on the puffed rice. Finally, the puffed rice, with which the thickener has been incorporated, is dried either under normal atmospheric pressure or under vacuum, either in the presence or in the absence of heating. In consequence of the gradual vaporization of water, the puffed rice diminishes in volume, eventually approaching the volume of raw rice. It is said that the resulting rice will be fast cooking in one to two minutes in hot water heated in advance to about 80.degree. C. The rice can even be rehydrated at room temperature by being soaked in water for about 30 minutes.
While the process described in Kamada et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,101,683 does not utilize any setting agent, the use of such an agent is disclosed in Kamada et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,085,234. This patent discloses a rice product made by puffing rice to a high degree by first treating the rice grains in a closed container kept at an elevated temperature and releasing the rice grains into the atmosphere, thereby allowing them to puff to a degree from 6 to 16 times, and preferably 10 to 12 times, as large as the raw rice grains. The puffed rice grains are then immersed in, or sprayed or sprinkled with, an aqueous solution containing at least one polysaccharide thickener which is gelled metallic ions. Examples of such polysaccharides are alginic acid, its salt, carrageen, pectin, etc.
As in Kamada et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,101,683, the puffing step of this patent, Kamada et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,085,234, gelatinizes the rice starch. The puffing may expand the rice grains to a volume from six times as large as normal rice grains to as much as 15 times as large as ordinary rice grains. Also, a thickener such as sodium alginate can be applied externally on the puffed rice grains by immersing the puffed rice grains in a thickener solution, or by spraying the thickener onto the rice grains. After the thickener has been incorporated in the puffed rice grains, the treated puffed rice is immersed in an aqueous solution containing metallic ions capable of inducing gelation of the thickener; or, alternatively, such a solution is sprayed or sprinkled on the puffed rice. The expression "aqueous solution containing metallic ions" includes aqueous solutions prepared by addition of metallic salts, solutions prepared by an ion exchange treatment, naturally occurring mineral waters containing metallic ions, and natural aqueous solutions which originate in animals and plants. Various metallic salts are described in the Kamada et al. patents, including calcium salts, potassium salts, magnesium salts, and other similar metallic salts of carbonic acid, hydrochloric acid, sulfuric acid, phosphoric acid, acetic acid, lactic acid, citric acid, ascorbic acid, glycerophosphoric acid, and other similar acids. The metallic ions are stated to be capable of acting upon the thickener to be gelled and consequently inducing gelation. A specific example is the combination of sodium alginate and calcium lactate. Another example is a low methyl ester pectin and calcium chloride. A further example uses the combination of sodium alginate and calcium lactate. Another example proposes the combination of calcium and potassium-sensitive carrageenin and calcium lactate.
After the rice has been treated with the thickener and the metallic salt, the puffed rice into which the thickener or the gelled thickener has been incorporated is dried under normal atmospheric pressure or under vacuum either in the absence or in the presence of heating to produce a fast-cooking rice. During the drying step, the puffed rice diminishes in volume to approach the volume of raw rice, while the incorporated gelled thickener is retained throughout from the surface to the inside center of the individual grains.